Advice please... starting portrait photography professionally

[CrystalH]

I've been doing photography as a hobby since I was a teenager and I worked as a photographer/journalist at my SMALL town newspaper and have taken photography courses in High School and in College. I am pretty familiar with shutter and apperature and do plan on taking another photography course to brush up. I've always wanted to do it professionally, but was too scared to try. I'm feeling like it's time to change careers (I'm an aesthetician) and I'm going to take the plunge.

I plan to just start out part time, but I'm hoping it'll eventually be full time. I'm mostly interested in maternity, newborn and children photography, but I've done some engagement photos and family photos for friends and family before too.

I have been saving some money and I'm ready to start buying some equipment. I don't have room in my home right now to have a studio, so I would have to do on-location photography outdoors or in a quick set up studio in the client's home. What should I get?

I currently own a Canon Powershort S3 IS and my father-in-law owns a Canon EOS Digital Rebel Xti, an 18-55 f3.5-5.6 lens and 55-300 f4-5.6 lens that he said I can borrow whenever I need to until I can afford a better camera. (He lives about 20 min away)

I am planning on spending around $1000 to get started with then plan to upgrade once things get busy (hopefully by the end of next year). Is my Powershot OK to start if I can try to use FIL's Rebel whenever possible? If not, should I get a Rebel Xti also? Or a 40D or 50D?

What would I need for other equipment? Lighting? Backdrops (I have some sheets and blankets and a slide projector to hold them up that I currently use)

Sorry this is so long and thank you for reading all the way through and for any help you can offer.

[crunch]

Welcome to DPS!!

For about $1100 (from B&H) you can get an XTi, an 85mm f/1.8 prime and a 430EX Speedlite. For portrait photography this would be an excellent starting point, as you have a fast and very sharp prime and a light (In my opinion, two of the most important things for studio or location portraiture.)

From there, as money starts coming in, you can add another prime (50 f/1.4 or 100 f/2) or a fast zoom (24-70 f/2.8), a second Speedlite (580EX, which can act as a master to your 430EX for a wireless setup), or perhaps a studio light kit.

The 40D/50D will wipe out your budget in one go.

And, sorry to say it, but your Powershot will just not cut it in the the proffesional world. I'm not saying it's a bad camera (it's not), but the image quality is just not the same when compared to a DSLR. Can you, with a clear conscience, ask people to pay for your photographs when you know that the quality is just not that great?

Portrait photography, however, is a very personal thing, and you're welcome to disagree with what I've said

[CrystalH]

Crunch- Thank you so much for your advice. Is there a reason you suggest starting with an 85 f/1.8 instead of 50 f/1.4? I'm just starting to really understand lenses and was all pretty sure I'd get a 50 f/1.4, but now I'm not sure.

[Scatterbrain]

I use my 50 f/1.4 for a lot of portrait shots (particularly low light, babies and pre-schoolers) as you can get in nice & close. You will be too close, however, for candid shots, which may be why the longer lens was suggested. There's also a thoery that you need at least 55mm is needed to avoid distortion.

I agree, you're going to have to use a dslr if you want to charge for the portraits. The photographs tend to have a more professional look & the file size & image quality will be sufficient to reproduce larger prints.

I'd also suggest gettting photoshop or photohop elements as you're likely to need to do some sort of cropping/colour correction etc.

Next thing on my list is a backdrop, although as most of my portraits are outdoors I haven't really needed one. Now it's nearly winter (UK) I think I will.

I'm just starting out myself, though. I'm in the process of building up my website (www.sarahleighphotography.co.uk if you're interested)

Good luck!

S

[oldwolf]

Don't bring your point and shoot to the photoshoot. Bring your FIL's XTi. It's good enough to get you started. As much as I preach about the photographer capturing the image and not the camera, for a business you should have some type of DSLR so you give the impression that you are serious about your business You can give a $3000 camera to someone that just started shooting yesterday and a point and shoot to a pro and I bet the pro will end up getting better pictures 80% of the time. I say 80% because I've seen some pros that can't seem to take a good picture and I believe wholeheartedly in beginner's luck.

Once you get the camera body, then look for good glass/lens. Starting out I would spend more money on a lens then I would on the body. Once I start making a good profit then I'll upgrade to a better body but only if I needed to. You don't need a camera that is capable of shooting 10 frames/sec if you're never going to do sports photography. Make sure you have an upgrade path though because if you buy really nice glass for your camera you want to make sure that you can use that glass on your next camera body. Again, only upgrade if you need to.

Now with the 85mm suggestion, scatter is right. The longer focal lengths will give you less distortion when taking pictures. Just be careful of where you're standing or moving if you're outdoors with a long focal length. Don't want to fall off of anything with your camera hehe.

Get some image editing software and learn how to use it. We use Paint Shop Pro X2 (PSP X2). It will do just about anything Photoshop will do for 1/6th the cost. If you don't want to spend money on image editing software then try out GIMP. It's free and there are lots of good books and tutorials out there. I've used both but prefer PSP just because that's what I'm used to using.

Here are two paths you could take for now as far as purchases are concerned.

1. Borrowing FIL's XTi
a. Buy good glass. 85mm or even 100mm
b. Buy a flash. 430EX is fine to start out with.
c. Buy a 5 in 1 collaspible reflector diffuser thingy.
d. Buy image editing software and/or books on how to use the software.
e. Always remember to keep the glass at your place when you return the camera to your FIL. hehe

2. Buy an XTi
a. Buy good glass. Personal choice. Primes are nice but I prefer fast zooms.
b. Buy a flash if you have enough money left over but if not then get the reflector/diffuser thingy mentioned in step 1.c. above.
c. Download, install and learn how to use GIMP to edit your pictures.
d. You can get other stuff as needed and as you save up money.

Too much in a hurry to give you links to some of the stuff I'm talking about but if you want links then let me know and I'll dig them up for you when I get back later today.

Always remember that it's the eye of the photographer/artist that captures the moment. The camera is just the tool that records the moment.

Good luck and don't hesitate to post questions and ask for help on DPS. There are a lot of people on here that are happy to help and there is an immense amount of knowledge/information on these boards.

[CrystalH]

I just realized that FIL was incorrect and he has a Canon Xsi, not Xti. So obviously that makes quite a difference as far as price if I were wanting the same. Is it worth it for me to go the Xsi, or would the Xti be sufficient?

[oldwolf]

XTi will be fine. Big difference between the two IMO is the live view (which is a pain in the butt to get to) and the XSi uses SD cards instead of CF cards. The glass you buy for one will work for the other. You would normally want to steer away from the live view because that requires you to hold the camera away from your body thus introducing more of a chance for camera shake to blur your pictures.

Forgot to mention memory cards in the above post. I would get 2 - 4 GB cards over 1 - 8GB card. If you have a card go bad then it's better to lose half your work than all of your work. I'm not saying the cards will go bad but there is that chance.

[crunch]

Originally Posted by CrystalH

Crunch- Thank you so much for your advice. Is there a reason you suggest starting with an 85 f/1.8 instead of 50 f/1.4? I'm just starting to really understand lenses and was all pretty sure I'd get a 50 f/1.4, but now I'm not sure.

My reason was already stated for me in the posts following this one Greater working distance, beautiful DoF and bokeh.

I use my 50mm f/1.4 for indoor portraiture, because this is what I do mainly when I do portraiture, and so far my indoor choice of venues has been space limited. I do however covet the 85mm f/1.8 for the weddings I have lined up, for some outdoor shots I have lined up, and for the 5DII when (if) I get it.

The XSi is a great camera, but so is the 1Ds III. The XTi will serve you just fine for a year or two.

I forgot to mention a tripod in my earlier post. And memory cards. The list never ends

Good luck and keep asking questions. We can all learn something (I know I just have. I figured another reason why I want the 85mm - for the 5DII. And once I have the 85mm, then I can justify getting the 5DII! )

[wannabehorsephotographer]

I'm a part-time on location portrait photographer. This is what I use. Do I wish I had more - Yes, but it gets me saleable prints (see my Flickr). Cost me about $1300 total and PSE6 was a gift.
Canon XTi
50mm f/1.8
18-55mm kit lens
Extra battery (you'll need it)
8 GB of memory on three different cards
Photoshop Elements 6 (or learn to use Gimp - post processing has saved so many pics for me and you just - IMHO - miss out on the professional pop without it)
Canon 430EXII, light stand, umbrella, umbrella adapter, PC cord & adapters
Cheapo makeshift reflector
black and white sheets (for makeshift backdrops - hardly ever use them though).

The least I've gotten by on for a shoot is my XTi, 50mm, CF card, and battery (obviously). Make sure you use your fil's camera a lot before a shoot though - I love my XTi, but you really have to make sure you are getting your focal point in the right spot and you can't shoot children quickly if you don't know exactly where all the buttons are.

[wannabehorsephotographer]

Agreed, "the list never ends"

Mine seems to double daily I now have a wonderful appreciation for the price photographers charge for their work!